The Bowery Boys Cast-Iron Architecture Tour along Ladies' Mile

Take a tour of Ladies’ Mile with a guide hand-picked by The Bowery Boys New York City history podcast. In the 19th-century, this neighborhood was New York’s most famous shopping district, where splendid commercial palaces plied their wares to the city’s elite. Some of the greatest architects and artists of the time created lavish showrooms to entice and delight both shoppers and passers-by. Your expert guide Emma will lead you around the neighborhood now known as Chelsea and the Flatiron District to see where wealthy women could shop without male companions. Residents of this neighborhood, such as Isabella Stewart Gardner, Edith Wharton, Samuel Morse, and members of the Roosevelt family. The buildings of the Ladies’ Mile district includes some of the most important examples of lavish cast-iron architecture in New York City. We'll discuss the incredible architecture that still exists today, and examine how these department stores changed New York.